Aachen is an independent city in the North Rhine-Westphalian
administrative district of Cologne. The former imperial city is a
member of the Rhineland Regional Council and, according to the
Aachen Law effective October 21, 2009, is the administrative seat of
the Aachen city region. In 1890, Aachen exceeded the population of
100,000 for the first time and has since been the westernmost German
city. Aachen borders on the Netherlands and Belgium.
With the
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), funded since
2007 as part of the Excellence Initiative, Aachen has one of the
largest and most traditional technical universities in Europe in
addition to other universities. The symbol of the city, the Aachen
Cathedral, goes back to the Palatine Chapel of the Aachen Royal
Palatinate founded by Charlemagne, which is considered a masterpiece
of Carolingian architecture. Together with the cathedral treasury,
the cathedral was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978
as the first German and the second cultural monument in the world.
The city is the episcopal seat of the diocese of Aachen and the
venue for the annual equestrian tournament CHIO Aachen. Furthermore,
it is an important location for the German confectionery industry,
particularly due to the Aachener Printen as a local specialty.
Due to the border location "in the heart of Europe", there are
numerous cultural and especially architectural influences from the
neighboring regions, the Belgian-Dutch area. Not least because of
this European character - even during his lifetime, Charlemagne, who
made Aachen the political, cultural and spiritual center of his
empire, was called Pater Europae ("Father of Europe") - the
International Charlemagne Prize for Merit has been awarded here
every year since 1950 awarded to personalities from home and abroad
about the European unification process.
Aachen is a
state-approved spa for the Monheimsallee and Burtscheid spa areas
with their rich thermal springs. The term Bad Aachen is occasionally
used in city tourism advertising; however, the city has never
applied to include the predicate Bad in its official name.
In this article, the cathedral, the museums and the town hall are
described because of their supra-regional importance. The remaining
sights are described in the articles on the boroughs.
Aachen
Cathedral. The cathedral acquired its current form over the course of
more than 1200 years. The outstanding main work of Carolingian
architecture is today one of the most important cultural monuments of
European importance. Aachen Cathedral was the first German monument to
be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978. You can only get
to the imperial throne and the shrine to Charlemagne with a guided tour,
but not during a service. This means that there are no guided tours on
church holidays either. Tickets for cathedral tours can be bought at the
cathedral information desk opposite the cathedral treasury. Price: free.
Benedictine monastery Kornelimünster former imperial abbey with abbey church and art museum.
1 Frankenberg Castle. The castle, which is centrally located in the
Frankenberger district in a small park, now houses a cultural and
meeting center.
2 Friesenrath Castle
3 House Heyden. Castle ruins
in Aachen-Horbach
4 Well Lime Kiln
5 Ober-Frohnrath house
6
Orsbach Castle
7 Rahe Castle
8 Seffent Castle
9 Schoenau Castle
10 Aachen Town Hall, Markt, 52062 Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241 432 73 10.
The Gothic town hall was built on the foundations of Charlemagne's
palace in the 14th century and was converted into the town palace in the
17th and 18th centuries. The northern facade is adorned with 50 statues
of German rulers. Every year, the International Charlemagne Prize is
awarded in the Coronation Hall. Open: daily 10:00 - 18:00.
11 Elisen
fountain
12 Ponttor. The Ponttor is the larger of the two surviving
city gates.
13 marching gate
14 Löwenstein House, Markt 41, 52062
Aachen.
15 Grashaus, Fischmarkt 3, 52062 Aachen. Phone: +49 (0)241
432 49 56
16 Aachen Cathedral Treasury. Phone: +49 (0)241 47 70 91 40, email:
info@aachener-domschatz.de. It is considered to be the most important
collection of ecclesiastical art treasures north of the Alps. It houses,
among other things, the Lothar Cross and the bust of Charles. Open: from
10am, closing depending on the day and the season. Price: €6 (adults),
€4 (pupils, students, trainees, unemployed, welfare recipients).
17
Center Charlemagne, Katschof 1. Tel.: +49 (0)241 432 49 31. Museum of
the city history of Aachen with permanent exhibition and changing
special exhibitions. Also includes a cafe. Open: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm;
closed: Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Dec 24, Dec 25, Dec 26, Dec 31
Price: €6, €3 (pupils, students, trainees).
18 Couven Museum,
Hühnermarkt 17. Tel.: +49 (0)241 432 44 21, e-mail:
info@couven-museum.de. Furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries. Open:
Tue-Sun 10am-5pm; 1st Sat of the month 1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.; closed: Dec
24, Dec 25, Dec 26, Dec 31, Weiberfastnacht. Price: free (up to 21
years), 6€.
19 Ludwig Forum for International Art, Jülicher Strasse
97–109. Tel.: +49 (0)241 180 71 04, fax: +49 (0)241 180 71 01, e-mail:
info@ludwigforum.de. Open: Tue-Wed 10am-5pm; Thurs 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.;
Fri–Sun 10:00–17:00; closed: Dec. 24, Dec. 25, Dec. 26, Dec. 31,
Weiberfastnacht, Shrove Monday, Whit Monday, Easter Monday. Price: free
(up to 21 years), €6, €3 (students, trainees).
20
Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Wilhelmstraße 18. Tel.: +49 (0)241 47 98 00,
fax: +49 (0)241 370 75, e-mail: info@suermondt-ludwig-museum.de.
Outstanding works of art from antiquity to the mid-20th century. Open:
Tue-Wed 10am-5pm; Thurs 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.; Fri–Sun 10:00–17:00;
closed: Dec. 24, Dec. 25, Dec. 26, Dec. 31, Weiberfastnacht, Shrove
Monday, Whit Monday, Easter Monday.
21 International Newspaper
Museum, Pontstraße 13. Tel.: +49 (0)241 432 49 10, fax: +49 (0)241 409
06 56, e-mail: izm@mail.aachen.de. The permanent exhibition deals with
the past, present and future of the media. There are also changing
special exhibitions. Open: Tue-Sun 10am-5pm; closed: Whit Monday, Dec
24, Dec 25, Dec 26, Dec 31, Easter Monday.
22 Friedrichs Customs
Museum, Horbacher Strasse 497. Tel.: +49 (0)241 997 06 15, email:
zollmuseum@mail.aachen.de. The museum in the former customs building
offers various historical exhibits on the subject of customs. Open:
Guided tours for individuals and families every 1st and 3rd Sunday at 11
a.m. and 2.30 p.m. Price: Free.
Further information about the
museums in Aachen: see the museum website of the city of Aachen.
The border triangle at the Vaalserberg.
various
Aachen Public
Observatory, Am Hangeweiher 23.
Aachener Tierpark Euregiozoo, Obere
Drimbornstrasse 44. Tel.: +49 (0)241 593 85, e-mail:
kontakt@euregiozoo.de. A small but beautiful zoo. Open: daily 9:00 am -
6:30 pm (summer time), 9:00 am - 4:30 pm (standard time); Dec 24, Dec 31
9:00 am – 2:30 pm. Price: €7.50 (adults), €3.70 (3-17 years), €6.20
(pensioners, students).
Tivoli. Football stadium.
2 Eurogress
(conference center), Monheimsallee 48. Tel.: +49 (0)241 913 10
Regular events
Pacemaker Festival. An international contemporary
dance festival held annually in spring.
Across the borders. An
international, interdisciplinary and cross-border cultural festival that
takes place regularly in Aachen and neighboring countries.
CHIO
Aachen. An international equestrian sport tournament held in Aachen
since 1924. It is typically held in July.
Aachen Christmas market
Aachen Carnival
Öcher Bend
Theatre
Theater Aachen,
Theaterplatz 1. Tel.: +49 (0)241 478 42 44
Grenzlandtheater Aachen,
Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz 5/6 52062 Aachen
The Da Theater, Liebigstraße
9. Tel.: +49 (0) 241 16 16 88, e-mail:
theater@dasda.de
Theater K, Ludwigsallee 139, Tel. 0241-151155
Theater 99/Akut, Gasborn 9 – 11, ticket reservations at Tel. 0241-27458
Öcher Schängche
Movie theater
Cineplex Aachen, Borngasse 30.
Phone: +49 (0) 241 4131820 .
Apollo cinema, Pontstrasse 141-149.
Phone: +49 241 900 84 84.
Capitol, Seilgraben 8. Email:
info@capitol-aachen.de
Film studio at RWTH Aachen University, office: Elisabethstrasse 16,
cinema hall: Templergraben 55. Tel.: +49 (0)241 80-95468, fax: +49 241
80-92655, e-mail:
info@filmstudio-aachen.de Price: Admission: €3.00 or €2.50 for club
members.
There is a wide range of everyday goods available.
Heerlen is a
Dutch shopping city close to the border.
Bicycle service: The bicycle
parking garage Heerlen directly at the train station (IC and regional
traffic) also offers repair service on Sundays!
Aachen is known for its regional specialty, the Printen (see Aachener
Printen). These are available in various bakeries throughout the year. A
visit to the freely accessible factory outlets of the Lindt and Lambertz
companies is also interesting for those with a sweet tooth.
Lindt
factory outlet, Süsterfeldstraße 130, 52072 Aachen (near Bendplatz).
Phone: +49 (0)241 88810.
Lambertz factory outlet, Ritterstrasse 9,
52072 Aachen. Another point of sale is in the inner city area opposite
the Elisenbrunnen.
See boroughs article for restaurant
recommendations.
Café Kittel at Pontstraße 39. Delicious cocoa,
coffee (from the Aachen roastery 'Plum's Kaffee') and snacks have been
served here for over 40 years. It is now a traditional institution where
generations of students have spent their time. Here young and old sit
together in a cozy ambience and enjoy the time.
Restaurant Dai Duong
at Burtscheider Str 27. Dai Duong is an Asian restaurant with delivery
service, specialties from Vietnam and Thailand. Opening hours: Daily:
11.30 - 15.00 & 17.00 - 23.00. Tips: Deal Of The Day is up to 25%
discount.
Aachen is said to have the highest number of pubs per inhabitant in
Europe. This is probably due to the large number of students studying at
RWTH and FH Aachen. Pontstraße in the "Studentenviertel" can be
described as the "party street", which comes alive every evening.
For individual recommendations, see the articles of the city
districts, especially Aachen/Mitte.
Overnight stays in Aachen are significantly more expensive during the
CHIO. At these times you can stay overnight cheaper in the surrounding
area, e.g. B. Rolduc Abbey in Kerkrade.
Cheap
1 Art Hotel,
Adenauerallee 209, 52066 Aachen. Phone: +49 (0)241 608360, email:
reservation@art-hotel-aachen.de. edit info
2 Hostel Aachen,
Mauerstrasse 116, 52064 Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241 4305288, mobile: +49
(0)176 20508129, e-mail: rezeption@hostel-aachen.de.
3 Aachen Youth
Hostel, Maria-Theresia-Allee 260, 52074 Aachen. Phone: +49 (0)241
71101-0, fax: +49 (0)241 71101-20, e-mail: aachen@jugendherberge.de.
Euregional youth hostel. Payment Methods Accepted: Debit Card.
4 Ibis
Budget Aachen City, Schumacherstrasse 12, 52062 Aachen. Phone: +49
(0)241 99775220.
5 Ibis Budget Aachen North, Strangenhäuschen 15,
52070 Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241 911929, Fax: (0)241 155304. Close to the
motorway.
6 Ibis Aachen Hauptbahnhof, Zollernstrasse 2, 52070 Aachen.
Phone: +49 (0)241 51840, Fax: (0)241 5184199.
7 Ibis Aachen
Marschiertor, Friedland-Strasse 6-8, 52064 Aachen. Phone: +49 (0)241
47880, Fax: (0)241 4788110.
8 Hotel Lousberg, Saarstrasse 108, 52062
Aachen. Phone: +49 (0)241 20331, email: info@hotel-lousberg.de.
9 A&O
Aachen main station, Hackländerstraße 5 (near the main station). Tel:
(0)241463073300 Email: booking@aohostels.com. Feature: 118 rooms.
Payment Methods Accepted: Debit Card.
Middle
10 Hotel garni
Baccara, Turmstrasse 174, 52064 Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241 87 97 96-0,
fax: (0)241 87 97 96 20, e-mail: info@hotel-baccara.de.
11 Hotel
Benelux, Franzstrasse 21, 52064 Aachen. Phone: +49 (0)241 40003-0, fax:
(0)241 40003-500, e-mail: info@hotel-benelux.de.
12 Hampton by Hilton
Aachen Tivoli, Merowingerstrasse 2, 52070 Aachen. Tel: (0)241 9559300.
13 Hotel Krone, Jülicher Strasse 91, 52070 Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241
153051, fax: (0)241 152511, e-mail: info@hotel-krone-aachen.com.
14
Hotel Am Marschiertor, Wallstrasse 1-7, 52064 Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241
31941, fax: (0)241 31944, e-mail: info@hotel-marschiertor-aachen.de.
15 Residence Hotel Domicil, Lütticher Strasse 27, 52064 Aachen. Tel.:
+49 (0)241 70512-00, fax: (0)241 70512-59, e-mail:
info@domicilaachen.de.
16 Hotel Hesse Am Marschiertor,
Friedlandstrasse 20, 52064 Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241 47054-0, fax: (0)241
4705449, e-mail: hotelhesse@aol.com.
17 Hotel Granus, Passstrasse 2,
52070 Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241 152071, fax: (0)241 158706, e-mail:
info@hotel-granus.de. Feature: ★★★.
18 Art Hotel Superior, Am
Branderhof 101, 52066 Aachen, Germany. Phone: +49 (0) 241-60970.
Feature: ★★★★.
19 Leonardo Hotel Aachen, Krefelder Strasse 221, 52070
Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241 18030. Feature: ★★★★.
20 Platinium Aachen,
Krefelder Str. 52, 52070 Aachen. Phone: +49 (0)241-46374230, email:
info@platiniumhotel.de.
21 Hotel Rosenpark Laurensberg,
Adele-Weidtman-Strasse 87-93, D-52072 Aachen. Tel.: (0) 241.1740-0,
e-mail: info@hotel-rosenpark-laurensberg.de.
22 Hotel Klenkes,
Lagerhausstrasse 5, 52064 Aachen. Phone: (0) 241 403135, Email:
hotel-klenkes@gmx.de.
23 Benson's Hotel, Bahnhofstrasse 3, Aachen
Mitte, 52064 Aachen. Phone: (0) 241-160 411-00, email: info@bensons.de.
24 Novotel Aachen City, Peterstrasse 66, 52062 Aachen. Tel: +49 (0)241
51590, email: h3557@accor.com. Non smoking, pets allowed. Features:
★★★★, Wheelchair Accessible, WiFi. Check-in: 3:00 p.m. Check-out: 12:00
p.m.
Boardinghouse Living28, Kochstraße 28. Tel.: +49 (0)241 5310
4840. Feature: ★★★. Check in: 14:00. Check out: 10:00 am. Price: from
€70.
upscale
25 Hotel Drei Könige, Büchel 5, 52062 Aachen.
Tel.: +49 (0)241 48393, mobile: (0)170 88 66 408, fax: (0)241 36152,
e-mail: aix-info@h3k-aachen.de.
26 Hotel Mercure Hotel Am Graben,
Peterstr. 1A, 52062 Aachen. Phone: +49 (0)241 18010.
27 INNSIDE by
Melia Aachen, Sandkaulstrasse 20 52062 Aachen. Tel: (0)241-510370.
Feature: ★★★★.
28 Hotel Aquis Grana Cityhotel, Buechel 32, 52062
Aachen. Tel.: +49 (0)241 443-0, Fax: (0)241 443137, Email:
info@hotel-aquisgrana.com. Feature: ★★★★
29 Pullmann Aachen
Quellenhof (Hotel Dorint Sofitel Quellenhof), Monheimsallee 52, 52062
Aachen. Tel: +49 (0)241 91320, Fax: (0)241 9132100, Email:
h5327@accor.com.
30 Novotel Aachen City, Peterstrasse 66, 52062
Aachen. Tel: +49 (0)241 51590, Fax: (0)241-5159599, Email:
h3557@accor.com. Feature: ★★★★. Check-in: 3:00 p.m. Check-out: 12:00
p.m.
The ancient name of the city has not been handed down. Since
Charlemagne founded his palace on the remains of Roman baths, the
Latin word aqua for "water" can be assumed as the origin of the
name. In medieval Latin texts the site is sometimes referred to
simply as Aquae or Aquis, but increasingly as Aquisgrani. It is
therefore assumed that the ancient name was *Aquae Granni and the
place is named after a spring dedicated to the Celtic god Grannus.
Because of the late tradition of the name, another theory assumes
that Aquisgrani is a creation of the Latin chancery language of the
Frankish Empire in the 8th century. The French name for Aachen
(Aix-la-Chapelle), like other French city names, contains the
component Aix, which can be traced back to the Latin acquis
(ablative locative plural), which very often refers to thermal
baths. The location near the Romance-Germanic language border is
also reflected in the names of neighboring spring towns, Seffent
(septem fontes, "seven springs") in the west of the Aachen city area
and Duffenter (duo fontes, "two springs") in the area of the
neighboring town of Stolberg .
The city is a state-recognized
spa town and can use the addition of Bad, see the Bad Aachen
section.
The city is called differently in different
languages. The designations are partly based on today's names, for
example Dutch Aken, Luxembourgish Oochen or Russian Ахен, partly on
the Latin names, for example Italian Aquisgrana, Spanish Aquisgrán
or Polish Akwizgran. An exception is Aix-la-Chapelle in French,
where the name Aix, derived from aquis (cf. Aix-en-Provence), is
followed by the reference to the Palatine Chapel in Aachen.
Aachen is known for its history and the associated cultural, architectural and archaeological heritage. Once a Celtic settlement, which later in the course of colonization by Roman pioneers was equipped with, among other things, a religious cult area and a thermal baths area comprising several thermal baths, and has therefore been characterized by a high bathing culture - as well as a high standard of living - since ancient times. the vicus was Germanized by Franks after the withdrawal of the Roman troops around the 5th century. A period of sedentarization followed, initially under Merovingian and then Carolingian rule. With the completion of the Carolingian palace complex at the transition to the 9th century, it was finally constituted as the main royal residence of the Frankish Empire ruled by Charlemagne, which was at its greatest extent at this time. Aachen, which was granted city rights in 1166 by Emperor Friedrich I. Barbarossa with the Charles Privilege and became an imperial city, served as the coronation site for numerous Roman-German kings and emperors from the early Middle Ages to the Reformation.
The area around Aachen was at the latest during the New Stone Age
(Neolithic) between 3000 and 2500 BC. inhabited by a peasant population.
Members of this culture mined flint on the Lousberg and excavations in
the Elisengarten in Aachen, which took place in the second half of the
2000s, suggest a Neolithic settlement. Various finds of artefacts from
Lousberg flint in the Lower Rhine Bay and in the Rhine Valley provided
indirect evidence of earlier mining since the Old Stone Age
(Palaeolithic). In the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, Aachen was
settled by Celts, as evidenced by burial mounds in the Aachen Forest and
the excavations in the Elisengarten in Aachen.
After the Celts,
the Romans settled at the warm springs. A Roman medicinal bath is
documented in the 1st century AD. According to the excavation results,
it can be assumed that since the birth of Christ there has been a city
development by the Romans of around 25 hectares in size - later called
Aquae Granni. The Roman baths continued to be used in Aachen in late
antiquity.
Excavations at the Elisengarten in 2008/2009 revealed that Aachen was
continuously populated even after the Romans had left at the end of the
4th and beginning of the 5th century up to 700.
Evidence of later
settlement are Frankish graves from the 7th century. The Frankish King
Pepin the Younger built a court in Aachen and ensured that Aachen was
first mentioned in writing in 765 as an Aquis villa. However, the
Carolingian Aachen before the heyday under Charlemagne is not yet
comprehensible. The pottery is assumed to have been part of the Roman
tradition and is therefore incorrectly identified as Roman. The previous
lack of archaeological evidence of Carolingian dwellings - which Einhard
mentions next to a cemetery - is explained by the adoption of Roman
buildings that are still intact.
Pippin's son Charles, later
called Charlemagne, inherited the Frankish Empire and the Aachen court.
He wintered there for the first time in the winter of 768/69. In his
later years he spent more and more time there and expanded it into an
imperial palace with a palace and chapel, the so-called Palatine Chapel.
The town hall now stands on the site of the palace, and the chapel
became the Aachen Cathedral.
Charles' son Ludwig was crowned
co-emperor in 813 in the presence of his father on the upper floor of
the Palatine Chapel. Charlemagne was buried on January 28, 814 in the
forecourt of the chapel. Another coronation took place in the Palatine
Chapel in Aachen in the middle of the 9th century. Lothar I, the eldest
grandson of Charlemagne, crowned himself Emperor here. Charles III and
Arnulf are no longer detectable in Aachen. It was not until Otto I that
the use of the Palatinate increased again – a development that broke off
again after Henry II.
Otto I was crowned East Frankish king in Aachen in 936. The city
remained the coronation place of the German kings (“sedes regia”) for
the next 600 years. By 1531, 30 German kings were crowned in the Aachen
Minster, today's cathedral; the last was Ferdinand I. After the
anti-pope Paschalis III. Charlemagne had canonized in 1165, Aachen
received on January 8, 1166 as caput civitatum (“head of the cities”)
and as caput et sedes regni Theutonici (“head and seat of the German
kingdom” – sic!) by a charter of liberty called Charlemagne’s privilege
Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa granted city rights as well as market and
mint rights and became an imperial city. Its inhabitants were freed from
fiefdom. The imperial eagle in the city coat of arms dates from this
period. On July 29, 1215, Emperor Friedrich II confirmed to the city of
Aachen all the rights it had received since Charlemagne.
The
construction of the inner city wall goes back to Emperor Barbarossa; it
is therefore still called the Barbarossa Wall today. Its construction
began in 1171. It runs roughly along today's ditch ring. In 1248, after
a six-month siege, Aachen fell to William of Holland, who was crowned
king here. The siege was only successful because the besiegers dammed up
the water from the streams as they exited the valley east of the city,
thereby flooding a large part of the then walled city area. Richard of
Cornwall, who was crowned in Aachen in 1257, promoted the construction
of the outer ring of walls, which took about 100 years to build. It ran
along the ring of avenues and featured eleven city gates and 22 towers.
It was not until 1841 that the first residential buildings were built
outside of the old town surrounded by these walls; the station district
and the Theaterstraße emerged.
In 1336, Emperor Ludwig IV
reconfirmed the city rights of the imperial city of Aachen and extended
them to the territory of the Aachen Empire. In addition to the city
district located within the Barbarossa Wall, this included the seven
districts located outside the Wall, the Aachen Heath, the Stadtbusch and
the Reichswald. These outskirts were used, among other things, to supply
the city population with agricultural and forestry supplies and, like
the city itself, needed special protection to protect them from robbery
and from enemy troops, which is why it was decided to build the Aachener
Landgraben as a fortification.
In 1258 the cloth fuller was
mentioned for the first time. Cloth manufacture in Aachen was the main
economic factor in Aachen for centuries.
Due to the rich ore
deposits in the area, zinc ore (calamine) on Altenberg (today Kelmis)
and in Stolberg, Aachen became a European center of the brass industry
and copper processing - especially in the 16th century. With the
religious unrest in Aachen during the Reformation and the expulsion of
the Protestants, many coppersmiths who belonged to this faith left the
city and settled in the more liberal surrounding areas (Vaals and
Stolberg).
Since the 13th century, the Aachen sanctuary journey
has been carried out, which reached its climax every seven years from
1349 with the presentation of the Aachen sanctuaries.
Today's
Aachen town hall was built in 1349 on the initiative of the Aachen
citizenry under the direction of their acting mayor Gerhard Chorus on
the remains of the dilapidated royal hall of the imperial palace. The
grass house had previously served this function, but continued to be
used at the same time for council and court meetings well into the 18th
century. Another town hall (the Pützer building) was built in 1903 at
the Katschhof. It was partially destroyed in World War II and demolished
in the 1950s; today there is an administration building on this site.
Aachen was politically integrated into the system of imperial
circles in 1500 when it became part of the Lower Rhine-Westphalian
imperial circle.
The city began to lose political importance in
the 16th century. With the separation of the Netherlands from the German
Empire, Aachen lost its geographically central position and was replaced
by Frankfurt as the coronation site. During the Reformation there was
massive unrest between Catholics and Protestants.
In 1601 Aachen decided for the first time to have its inhabitants
counted. This revealed that 14,171 residents lived in Aachen, of which
only 2,829 had citizenship.
On May 2, 1656, a fire broke out in
the bakery of the baker Peter Maw at the Jakobskirche, which destroyed
almost the entire Gothic Aachen. Seven people died and 4664 houses were
destroyed.
In the years that followed, the spa doctor from Liège,
François Blondel, developed Aachen into one of the most modern spa
resorts in Europe. Since then, the phrase has been circulating in
Aachen: "What the fire has destroyed, the water builds up again." The
bath gained a certain reputation and was frequented by rulers such as
Tsar Peter I of Russia or the Prussian King Frederick the Great, but men
such as the composer George Frideric Handel also frequented the
establishment.
The war of devolution between Spain and France
ended in 1668 with the First Peace of Aachen. In 1748 a peace congress
took place in Aachen, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession
with the Second Peace of Aachen. In the wake of the French Revolution,
armies occupied Aachen in 1794 and united it with France. Numerous
cultural assets were deported to Paris. In 1798, Aachen became the
administrative seat of the Département de la Roer, which encompasses the
Lower Rhine. The Londoner Hof at Kleinkölnstrasse 18 in Aachen served as
the administration building.
From 1802 to 1825 Aachen was the
seat of a bishop. It was only rebuilt in 1930 by the Prussian Concordat
and placed under the Archdiocese of Cologne as a suffragan.
After the Congress of Vienna, the city was incorporated into the
Kingdom of Prussia in 1815. In 1816 it became the seat of a Prussian
district government and a district, first in the province of Grand Duchy
of the Lower Rhine, with the city becoming an urban district. From June
27, 1822, the city and the entire administrative district belonged to
the Rhine Province.
The introduction of steam power, especially
in the cloth industry, progressive mechanization and the unemployment
associated with it, as well as women and children working for the lowest
wages, led to unrest that was brutally suppressed by armed citizens and
soldiers in 1830. The Rhenish Railway, built from Cologne in the
direction of Belgium from 1837, reached Aachen in 1841 and the Belgian
border station in Herbesthal in 1843.
At the beginning of the
First World War, German troops crossed the border into Belgium near
Aachen, which was the reason why France and Great Britain entered the
war. After the First World War, part of the Aachen hinterland with the
Eupen district and parts of the Monschau and Schleiden districts fell to
Belgium in 1918. Aachen remained occupied by Belgian troops for eleven
years. This period saw the activities of a separatist movement that
called for the Rhineland to be separated from the Prussian-dominated
German Empire. On October 21, 1923, Aachen separatists occupied the town
hall during a coup. There were bloody clashes between the separatists
and the people of Aachen, which were only ended by the Belgian occupying
forces on November 2nd.
The interwar period meant a deep break in
the city's economic life. In particular, the so-called Ruhrkampf, the
shifting of the customs border to the Rhine and increasing smuggling
along the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands as well as the
separatist uprising of 1923 hit Aachen hard. In addition, there were
reparations payments and, as a negative climax, the global economic
crisis from 1929.
In 1933 the city council was dissolved. The
senior city and state officials were replaced by members of the NSDAP. A
shrine trip with 800,000 participants took place in 1937, which was seen
as a silent protest against the Nazi regime.
During the November
pogroms of 1938, Jewish shops and apartments in Aachen were vandalized
or looted. The only synagogue in Aachen was destroyed by fire that
night. 552 Aacheners of Jewish faith were deported and murdered in the
years to come.
During the Second World War, Aachen was badly
damaged; 65 percent of the living space was destroyed. In July 1941 the
first of five air raids took place. Tens of thousands of deportation
victims who had been interned in Belgium came through the border town of
Aachen, only to be smuggled through Germany to the concentration camps
by Reichsbahn. In 1944, Aachen was forced to be evacuated, which was the
first German city to be taken by the Allies on October 21, 1944 after
six weeks of fighting (Battle of Aachen). At this point, the city had
only 11,139 inhabitants. The Americans appointed Franz Oppenhoff as the
new mayor, who fell victim to an attack after just under five months in
office. While a group of the Werwolf volunteer movement was initially
held responsible for this, it is now assumed that Oppenhoff was murdered
as a collaborator with the Allies by the SS and Luftwaffe on the orders
of Heinrich Himmler. The Oppenhoffallee was later named after him.
Aachen was first occupied by American, then by British and later by
Belgian troops.
Between 1945 and 1953, 40 people died during
coffee smuggling between Belgium and Germany, on the so-called Aachen
Coffee Front. In 1946, 100,000 people lived in Aachen again. On August
23, 1946, the northern part of the former Rhine province, which also
included Aachen, became part of the newly founded state of North
Rhine-Westphalia. From April 1, 1949 to August 28, 1958, the western
district of Bildchen was a Belgian annexation area.
In 1950, the
International Charlemagne Prize was awarded by the city of Aachen for
special services to unification and peace in Europe.
Aachen was
considered a CDU stronghold until the 1970s, derided by left-wing
circles as "black Aachen". The reason was the predominantly Catholic
population, who voted for the center and later the Christian Democrats.
During the regional reform of 1972 (first Aachen law), the urban
area of Aachen was almost tripled through incorporations, and the number
of inhabitants rose to 237,108. The district of Aachen received the
extent it had until it was replaced by the city region of Aachen. The
administrative district of Aachen was dissolved and incorporated into
the administrative district of Cologne. In the same year, the new Aachen
Clinic celebrated its topping-out ceremony, which was officially handed
over to the RWTH Aachen University in 1985 by the then Prime Minister
Johannes Rau.
A new synagogue in Aachen was inaugurated in 1995
with the participation of international guests of honor.
On May
25, 2009, the city was awarded the title of Place of Diversity by the
federal government.
Aachen is in the border area with the Netherlands and Belgium
(Euregio Maas-Rhein) on the northern edge of the Eifel and the
Rhenish Slate Mountains. The Eifel and the High Fens in the south,
large areas between the Lower Rhine and Niedermaas and the Ardennes
are landscapes bordering Aachen. Nearby larger cities are Cologne,
Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Bonn, Mönchengladbach, Krefeld, Leverkusen,
Liège (Belgium), Maastricht, Heerlen and Roermond (all Netherlands).
In addition, Aachen borders on an urban agglomeration to the north
and east, which includes the cities of Herzogenrath,
Übach-Palenberg, Alsdorf, Baesweiler and Würselen to the north,
Eschweiler to the north-east and Stolberg to the east of the city.
Aachen is located in the triangle between Germany, Belgium and
the Netherlands in the center of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine, in a
valley basin open to the northeast, in which almost all of Aachen's
streams gather in the Wurm and flow to the Rur. The urban area is
thus in the catchment area of the Meuse, directly on the northern
edge of the slate mountains on the left bank of the Rhine (Eifel),
about 30 km north of the High Fens.
The highest point in the
city is 410 m above sea level. and is located in the extreme
southeast of the city. The lowest point is 125 m above sea level.
and is located in the north of the city on the federal border with
the Netherlands. The market square in the city center is at an
altitude of 175 m above sea level. The length of the city boundary
is 87.7 km, of which 23.8 km is border with Belgium and 21.8 km with
the Netherlands. The largest north-south extension is 21.6 km, the
largest west-east extension 17.2 km.
The following cities and municipalities border the city of Aachen
(starting clockwise in the northwest):
City region Aachen:
Herzogenrath, Würselen, Eschweiler, Stolberg, Roetgen
Liege
Province (Belgium): Raeren, Kelmis, Plombières
Limburg Province
(Netherlands): Vaals, Gulpen-Wittem, Simpelveld, Heerlen, Kerkrade
City structure
The urban area is divided into the seven
districts of Aachen-Mitte, Brand, Eilendorf, Haaren, Kornelimünster
/ Walheim, Laurensberg and Richterich. Each city district has its
own district council with a district head and its own district
office. The district council is elected by the population of the
city district in each local election. Some of the city districts are
divided into statistical districts for statistical purposes.
The districts of Aachen, which partly coincide with the city
districts, form a subdivision of the city area for cadastral
purposes.
Independent of these official city structures,
there are numerous other place names in Aachen for city districts
and districts, localities and settlements that are generally
considered to be districts of Aachen.
Aachen and the surrounding area belong to the moderate climate
zone and have an oceanic climate, with humid weather, mild winters
and relatively stable temperatures. Due to the location north of the
Eifel and the High Fens, the amount of precipitation (on average 805
mm / year) in Aachen is comparatively higher than in Bonn (669 mm /
year) due to the prevailing weather conditions from the west.
Another effect of the location on the northern edge of the Eifel is
the occurrence of foehn in southern air currents.
Due to the
city's basin location, inversion weather conditions are more common.
Some parts of the city are characterized by an unfavorable air
exchange in terms of urban climate. The numerous cold air corridors,
which should remain as free of buildings as possible for urban
planning purposes, are therefore of great importance for the urban
climate. This mesoclimatic function of regulating the urban climate
is also fulfilled by the landscape protection areas (LSG) in the
Aachen area.
If the weather conditions are strong - wind
force 3 (Beaufort scale) with southerly to westerly wind directions
- sufficient air exchange in the valley basin is guaranteed. Stream
valleys and green corridors along these wind directions serve as
ventilation tracks, for example the Johannisbachtal. In weather
conditions with little exchange (so-called neutral weather),
air-hygienic problematic situations can arise. With these only
medium exchange conditions, weak winds blow from northeast to
southwest, so that in this respect stream valleys with such an
orientation as z. B. the Beverbachtal fulfill an important
ventilation function. However, stable high-pressure weather
conditions are problematic, i.e. low-wind, beautiful weather
conditions with high solar radiation. Due to the inadequate air
currents, the polluted air can hardly be replaced by fresh air. Only
the cold air flowing into the valley basin, which forms at night on
larger open spaces near the city, ensures a positive exchange of
air. Such cold air flows take place, for example, over the
Beverbachtal and Erzbergerallee.
A special feature of the
weather forecast for Aachen is the Aachen weather pillar, an
approximately 11 meter high light pillar on the roof of the Haus
Grenzwacht skyscraper at the main station, which uses the luminous
color of its sphere and various time sequences of the glow of the
sphere and shaft to indicate the weather forecast for the next day .
Aachen's subsurface is very heterogeneous. The oldest
rocks occurring in the urban area are Devonian and Carboniferous
sandstones, greywacke, claystones and limestone. The rock formations
belong to the slate mountains on the left bank of the Rhine north of
the High Fens. In the Upper Carboniferous these rock layers were
narrowed, folded and pushed over during the Variscan mountain
formation. After the expansion of the Variscan Mountains, the area
was increasingly leveled over a period of 200 million years.
During the Cretaceous Period, the sea penetrated from the North Sea
to the edge of the mountains near Aachen and deposited clays, sands
and chalk sediments. While the clays, which were the basis of an
important pottery industry not far from Aachen in Raeren, are mainly
to be found in the valley basin of Aachen, the heights of the Aachen
Forest, the Schneeberg and the Lousberg are formed by deposits of
sand and chalk from the Upper Cretaceous. The most recent sediments,
which are predominantly found in the north and east of Aachen, are
tertiary and quaternary river and wind deposits.
Along the
great thrust orbits of the Variscan orbital formation - the Aachen
and Burtscheid thrust - today in the urban area, bound to Upper
Devonian limestones, over 30 Aachen and Burtscheid thermal springs
come to light. In addition, numerous tectonic faults, some of which
are still active today, pervade the subsurface of Aachen and belong
to the fault system of the Rurgraben. In the past, this fault system
has repeatedly made itself felt in Aachen and the entire Cologne Bay
through earthquakes, for example in the years 823, 1756 near Düren
and 1992 near Roermond.
In Aachen, in addition to soil, water, noise, climate and landscape protection, the maintenance or restoration of the best possible air quality is of particular importance.
The basin location of Aachen city center, the heavy traffic there
and the progressive development of open spaces have a negative
effect on air hygiene. The EU-relevant pollutant parameters showed
fine dust (PM10) and in particular nitrogen oxides (NOx) on
Wilhelmstrasse and Adalbertsteinweg in recent years and also
currently e.g. Sometimes high to critical daily or annual mean
values. These clear excesses of limit values are considered to be
harmful to health: there is a risk of an increase in allergies,
respiratory infections and cardiovascular diseases as well as an
increase in mortality. Previously injured persons are particularly
affected. B. with asthma as well as children and adolescents.
In the two spa areas of Burtscheid and Monheimsallee,
considerably higher requirements apply compared to the general EU
limit values for fine dust and nitrogen dioxide. After these had
not been met for a long time and therefore even the title of spa was
in danger, studies from 2016 confirmed compliance with the strict
spa area guidelines.
In the case of strong weather
conditions, sufficient air exchange in the heavily polluted valley
basin is guaranteed. In weather conditions with little exchange
(so-called neutral weather), air-hygienic problematic situations can
arise. However, stable high pressure weather conditions are
problematic.
As part of an air pollution control plan, the
Solid Fuel Ordinance came into force on October 9, 2010 with a
transition period until December 31, 2014. In 2015, further measures
were defined in the areas of transport and energy. On the
instructions of the Cologne District Government, an environmental
zone had to be set up from February 1, 2016; it concerns the area
within the Aachen outer ring.
The Cologne District Government
has been preparing the second update of the Aachen Air Quality Plan
since the beginning of 2017. A central point is the examination and
possible preparation of a diesel driving ban. A pending action by
the German Environmental Aid (DUH) is aimed at this at the VG
Aachen. With a similar petition, the DUH was already successful at
the VG Düsseldorf and the VG Stuttgart. The Federal Administrative
Court has largely rejected the leap appeals filed against it.
However, if a diesel driving ban is issued as a measure to keep the
air clean, proportionality is to be maintained. For this reason,
Euro 5 vehicles, for example, should not be banned from traffic
before September 1, 2019. In addition, there must be exceptions, for
example for craftsmen or certain groups of residents.
From
November 2019 Tempo 30 will be introduced across the board within
the Alleenring.
Due to the high degree of
sealing, the environmental agency also demands the maintenance or
expansion of all inner-city, larger, open green areas in order not
to endanger an effective fresh air supply.
In the course of
the planned reorganization of the land use plan, the city
administration is considering converting several cold air generation
areas into building land. In contrast, three citizens' initiatives
were formed in the summer of 2014 with regard to the Beverau,
Schönthal and Grauenhoferweg test areas.
According to the currently valid landscape plan from 1988, 451 hectares of the urban area are protected in 12 nature reserves and a further 8131 hectares in the Aachen landscape protection area. A new landscape plan is currently (2018) in preparation, based on the draft, 1857 ha in 32 NSGs and 8869 ha in 19 LSGs would be protected.
According to the official statistics of the city of Aachen from June
30, 2022, the population is 259,839, of which 123,837 are female and
136,002 are male.
The unemployment rate in the urban area was 7.8
percent in March 2020 before the start of the nationwide measures to
contain the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, during the pandemic the rate
rose to 9.0 percent in August. At the end of 2009, the proportion of
foreigners in Aachen was 13.6 percent. A significant proportion of the
foreign residents belonged to the students of the internationally known
educational centers in Aachen.
In 1855 Aachen had more than 50,000 inhabitants, compared to just
under 25,000 at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1890 the city's
population exceeded 100,000, making it a major city. A few years later
it incorporated the district town of Burtscheid from the district of
Aachen, whereupon it became the seat of the district administration;
today Aachen is the seat of the Aachen city region. The city experienced
an increase in population of around 63,000 people in 1972 as a result of
several incorporations - the number of inhabitants rose from 177,000 to
around 240,000. On December 31, 2005, the official number of inhabitants
for Aachen was 258,208 (only main residences and after comparison with
the other state offices) according to the update of the State Office for
Information and Technology North Rhine-Westphalia (IT.NRW). The stronger
increase in the population in 2003 compared to previous years is due to
the fact that the city introduced the second home tax in the same year,
which prompted many students in particular to exchange their second home
with the city administration for a main residence. In 2008, a historic
high was reached with 259,269 inhabitants.
In a comparison of the
major German cities, Aachen shows an average increase in population of
0.67% for the period 2012/2013. As of June 30, 2012, 259,684 residents
were registered in Aachen. According to the population forecast by the
LDS, the population should increase to 282,500 by 2025. However, the
2011 census showed that the previously assumed number of inhabitants was
far too high. The number of inhabitants determined by the 2011 census as
of May 9, 2011 is 236,430. The city of Aachen, among others, has
appealed against these census results. With a decision of August 26,
2015, the Federal Constitutional Court temporarily stopped the deletion
of the data collected as part of the 2011 census for a maximum of six
months in a legal review procedure in order to give the municipalities
the opportunity to effectively review any incorrect calculation of their
population and correct it if necessary to permit. On September 19, 2018,
the Federal Constitutional Court decided in another judicial review
procedure that the methodology of the 2011 census was constitutional.
The proceedings of the city of Aachen against the state of North
Rhine-Westphalia before the Aachen administrative court were suspended
until this decision. After the judgment of the constitutional court, the
city of Aachen declared that it was examining whether there were still
chances of success in this procedure.
In the study published in
July 2015 on the population forecast from the Bertelsmann Stiftung's
"Wegweiser Kommune" data portal, the numerical development of the
population for cities and municipalities with more than 5,000
inhabitants and all rural districts was calculated. According to this
current forecast, the number of inhabitants in Aachen will decrease
continuously in the coming years and will only amount to 231,310 in
2030, which corresponds to a population decrease of 3.6%.
From the very beginning, the area around the city of Aachen belonged
to the Diocese of Liège or its Archdeaconate Hasbania, Deanery
Maastricht. In the Middle Ages, the Wurm was the border to the
Archdiocese of Cologne. The Duke of Jülich had ecclesiastical rights. In
1708 there were 17 monasteries in Aachen. In 1802 Aachen became the seat
of its own diocese, which was abolished again in 1825. After that, the
area belonged to the Archdiocese of Cologne, before the Diocese of
Aachen was established again in 1930 as a suffragan diocese of Cologne.
The cathedral of the diocese of Aachen and the main church of the city
is the Aachen Cathedral. The city's Catholic parishes belong to the
Aachen-City region within the diocese. Bishop has been Helmut Dieser
since 2016.
The Reformation began in Aachen around 1530. In the
years that followed, mainly Protestant (Calvinist) cloth-making families
settled in the city. The first community was formed in 1544, but all
public offices were barred to the evangelical residents by order of the
emperor from 1550 onwards. The city council was divided, however, and in
1559 the evangelical members left the council and many Protestants left.
In 1576, thanks to the support of the guilds, the majority of the
council was again occupied by Protestants. In the period that followed,
there was initially one Lutheran and three Reformed congregations. The
liberties did not last long, however, as in 1598 the city was banned
from the Empire and the Evangelical Council resigned as a result. All
preaching houses and schools were closed. Many Protestants were
expelled. After a protestant uprising in 1611/1612, a Protestant council
was temporarily re-established, but in 1614 the imperial ban was imposed
again and the Protestants were expelled and some were even executed.
After that, the number of Protestants was very small, but there were
always Protestant residents who tried again and again to gain influence
in the city. However, since they could not form their own congregations,
the Lutheran and Reformed residents joined the congregations in Vaals.
There, on March 21, 1649, a Reformed congregation was first founded,
which in 1672 had the Hervormde Kerk built. The Evangelical Lutheran
congregation of Aachen-Burtscheid-Vaals was founded around 1669 and
built the Lutheran church De Kopermolen in 1737.
After the French
invasion, the Protestants gradually won their rights of equality with
the Catholics. In 1802 they received the former monastery church of St.
Anna for their services. The Lutheran and Reformed congregation that had
been founded in the meantime merged in 1837 to form the United
Evangelical Congregation. After Aachen had already become Prussian in
1815 and the Evangelical Church in Prussia was formed as a united church
in 1817, the congregation in Aachen belonged to this church or to the
Rhenish provincial church formed in 1826. In 1838 Aachen became the seat
of a superintendency, from which today's church district of Aachen
emerged within the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, which in turn
came into being as a state church in 1947 when the church province
became independent. The Evangelical parish of Aachen is divided into
four parish areas (Aachen-Mitte, Süd, West and Nord), each with several
parish districts. However, two other communities in the south-east
belong to the area of the city of Aachen: Brand belongs to the parish of
Stolberg, the places in the Kornelimünster/Walheim district belong to
the parish of Kornelimünster-Zweifall. However, the Evangelical Church
District of Aachen includes not only the parishes in the city and
district of Aachen (apart from Eschweiler) but also Eifel parishes in
the Euskirchen district.
In addition to the two large churches,
there are numerous evangelical free churches in Aachen, including the
Free Evangelical Congregation and the Evangelical Free Church
Congregation (Baptists). Other Christian associations and parishes
include an Old Catholic parish, Free Christian parishes, four different
Orthodox parishes, most notably the Greek Orthodox parish of St.
Michael's Church led by Bishop Evmenios von Lefke, and a Korean Catholic
parish.
A large part of the various Christian communities in
Aachen are united in the local ecumenical working group of Christian
churches (ACK) in Aachen. These include the Roman Catholic Church, the
Evangelical Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox
Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the
Old Catholic Church, the Baptists, the Free Evangelical Church, the
Vineyard Church, the International Free Christian Church (ICF) and the
Lighthouse Christian Center.
The Christian Community, Jehovah's
Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the
Apostolic Community and the New Apostolic Church are also represented in
Aachen.
Aachen is the location for the Aachen seminary and the
seat of the Catholic aid organizations missio, Misereor and the
Sternsinger.
As of 2014, 46.5% of the residents were members of the Catholic Church and 15.0% of the Protestant Church; 38.5% belonged to other denominations or religious communities or were non-denominational. In 2017, of the 255,967 inhabitants, statistically 43.4% (111,052) were members of the Catholic Church, 14.1% (36,171) of the Protestant Church and 42.5% belonged to other denominations or religious communities or were non-denominational. The proportion of Protestants and Catholics has since fallen. The number of people leaving the church in Aachen, as in the whole of NRW, has skyrocketed in the past year. In 2018 there were 2,485 people leaving the church, in 2019 there were 3,401 people leaving the church, in the Corona year 2020 there were 2,601, in 2021 there were 4,564 and last year (2022) there were 5,212 people leaving the church.
The Aachen synagogue was rebuilt by the city of Aachen on the site of the old synagogue destroyed during the November pogroms of 1938 and handed over to the Jewish community in 1995. The Jewish Community of Aachen, with around 1,440 members and its own library, also has a Jewish cemetery and its own newspaper.
There are now three mosques in Aachen, the Yunus Emre Mosque of the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion (DITIB) in Aachen-Ost, the Islamic Center (IZA) with the Bilal Mosque and the Mansoor Mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. There are also five other institutions in the form of Islamic cultural centers.
In November 2005, the Working Group Dialogue of Religions was set up
under the direction of the Integrationsstelle Aachen, in which members
of all major world religions participate.
The Society for
Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Aachen is dedicated to Jewish-Christian
dialogue.
The deceased of the Roman Aquae Granni were buried outside the then
city limits on a wasteland on which Aachen's Peterskirche was later
built in the 12th century. From the early Middle Ages it was customary
to initially bury the dead in the Münsterkirchhof in the immediate
vicinity of the Aachen Minster and thus within the city limits. As the
number of inhabitants increased, the Catholic citizens were buried in
the vicinity of their respective places of worship or within the
churches in specially designed mortuary cellars. On the other hand,
since 1605 the Protestant citizens have been buried a few 100 m in front
of the Kölntor on the field marked Am Güldenplan on the edge of the
outer city wall of Aachen. It was no longer used after 1899 and is now a
listed building as part of Aachen's city garden.
Only after the
French invasion of 1794 did the gradual change to a more modern burial
culture begin. For health reasons, the occupying forces generally
prohibited the use of cemeteries within the city limits. Two years
before the official imperial decree of 1805, it was decided in Aachen to
open up a new cemetery area for the Catholic population. It should be
about 700 m east of the Adalbert Gates in the east of the city, where
the Aachen East Cemetery was opened on August 18, 1803 and placed under
the administration of the Alexian Brothers from the Alexian Monastery in
Aachen.
Later in the 19th century, the lack of burial grounds led
to the city acquiring a large piece of land on Vaalser Straße from the
municipality of Laurensberg in order to set up the new Aachen West
Cemetery here. First, the facility known as Westfriedhof I was set up
south of Vaalser Straße for the Protestant citizens. It serves as a
replacement for the Am Güldenplan Cemetery and was occupied from January
4, 1889. On May 1, 1890, Catholics began occupying Westfriedhof II,
which was located north of the street. a Campo Santo was built. While
the Aachen East Cemetery was initially reserved for the Aachen parishes
of St. Adalbert, St. Peter and St. Foillan, the new West Cemetery II
served all other parishes at the time.
Due to the increase in
population in the 20th century, the city of Aachen decided to expand the
Waldfriedhof Aachen for the public from 1930 onwards. This was
implemented on the site of a former cholera cemetery just outside of
Burtscheid, where the city had already reserved a larger area as a
cemetery of honor. Finally, the Linert Cemetery was opened in 1956 and
the Hüls Cemetery in 1979, where Aachen's only crematorium is located.
The only memorials for children from the stars and children who died
early are located in the West Cemetery as well as in the Hüls Cemetery.
In addition, the incorporated districts of Aachen have their own
historically relevant cemeteries, which are now all subordinate to the
city, such as the Burtscheid/Aachen Heissberg Cemetery.
The
burial culture in Aachen has adapted to modern ideas. From the classic
burial in the form of single and row graves to urn and tree graves to
anonymous burial, the decision on the type of burial as well as the
choice of the desired cemetery is left to the citizens within the
framework of the legal requirements.
At the head of the city of Aachen was initially a royal official. In
1250 management passed to the council, which was headed by a mayor.
Members of the council were initially only lifelong incumbent lay
judges. The guilds have also been represented since the 15th century.
This was laid down in the so-called Aachen Gaffelbrief of 1450, which
was valid until 1794. However, it was not until 1513 that the guilds
were able to achieve permanent membership in the council. Membership has
fluctuated several times. There were usually two mayors at the top, who
only held office for one year and changed office on May 25. In addition
to their council membership, the council members usually held important
special offices in the city. After the French invasion of 1794, the
municipal constitution was introduced. The head of the city was the
mayor. He was assisted by three deputies and a 30-strong council. In
Prussian times in 1815 the mayor became the mayor. A reorganization of
the municipal constitution was only introduced in 1845 with the Rhenish
Municipal Code and in 1856 with the Rhenish City Code. The city
administration continued to consist of the mayor and the council.
During the National Socialist era, the Lord Mayor was appointed by
the NSDAP. After the Second World War, the military government installed
a new Lord Mayor and in 1946 introduced a British-style local government
constitution. After that there was a city council elected by the people,
whose members are known as city councillors. The council initially
elected the mayor from among its members as chairman and representative
of the city, who worked on an honorary basis. Furthermore, from 1946 the
council also elected a full-time chief city manager as head of the city
administration. In 1995 the dual leadership in the city administration
was given up. Since then there has only been the full-time mayor. He is
chairman of the council, head of the city administration and
representative of the city. He was elected directly by the people for
the first time in 1999.
Since November 1, 2020, Sibylle Keupen
(non-party candidate of the Greens) has been Mayor of the City of
Aachen.